On 24 February Asian University was delighted to welcome Michelle Lee, who recently retired from the UN, and two of her ex colleagues. She gave a wide ranging talk about the UN and then answered the numerous questions from students and staff.
Michelle has worked for the UN for over thirty years, starting as an administrator and then participating in the areas of Peacekeeping and International Justice. She started her presentation with a quiz, to see how much (or little) everyone knew about the UN. Founded in 1945, there are now 192 member states, and fifteen members (including five permanent members) on the Security Council. There are six official languages of the UN, and all documents are prepared in these. However English and French are the working languages on a day to day basis.
Michelle told us about some of her experiences while working in Serbia, Cambodia, Thailand, Namibia and other parts of the world. She admitted that sometimes the UN is more successful than others. Clearly she found it interesting working in such a multi cultural, multi racial, multi lingual organisation, and said that sometimes, it was better to “agree to differ” with colleagues coming from a different background. Understanding one another was essential to work together effectively.
Dr. Viphandh Roengpithya, the University president, thanked Michelle and her colleagues for visiting Asian University, and looked forward to further contact in the future.
This story was published here, and elsewhere:
http://www.pattayamail.com/current/kids.shtml
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